Display assembly



May 5, 1959 M. s. DUNKELBERGER DISPLAY ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 15, 1954 IN V EN TOR.

,mm1/at mmf/55MB United brates 2,884,126. msPLAv ASSEMBLY Milton. S. DunkelbergenlDayton, Ohio; Jack E. Dunkel.- berger.,l executor. of the estate of. said. Dunkelberger, deceased, assignor to .The American Display Company, Dayton, hi`o, a corporation of'Ohio ApplicationlNovember 15, 19.54,. SeralaNo. 468,901;

` 10 Claims. (ci. 1o-106.41)

This. invention: relates` to adisplay assembly., The in -v ventionl relatesy more. particularly to. a display assemblyin which a display Objectis movably attached. to a. disv...

play board or card. T heinvention. relates, still more particularly to a. display. assembly having @movable obv ject. attached theretoinwhichthe movable objectEuttei-s.

and irregularly moves. with. respect tothe board or. card by which the .movable .obj ect, is supported. However, the invention .is not solimited in that itrelates to a device or vassembly in which. one member is movably attachedY to, another member and infwhich means arek provided to cause onemember. toutter andtomove irregularly with In.` thepast a display assembly which was provided:-

with. movable objects has been', rathen expensive to conf str-uct, and. for thatreason hasbeen somewhat unpopular forsim-ple. types of display assemblies.

It is an objectl of thisl invention. to providea low cost displayY assembly having a. movable object in which. the, movable object is caused to flutter and to move irregolarly. f

It isa 'further objectof thisinvention. to provide a. display.r assembly in which one or morel movable objtcts. may be displayedy along withvv one. or more stationary objects, v

It is a further object of. this. invention, to4 provide ai devicehaving astationary member and amovable memr ber, the device including means forcausing the movable,

member to move irregularly with. respect to the stationary member.

, Other objects andadvantages reside in the construction; of parts, the combinationv thereot andthe modevv of operation, as will become more apparent fromk the following description.

In the drawing,

Figure l is: a fragmentary perspective, viewy showing a typical display assembly of this invention.

Figure 2 is a side sectional. view showingthe opera-ting devicesof a `display assembly. ofL this; invention.

Figure 3. is a side elevational viewdisclosing the operating devices of this invention showingthe manner in which the.. movable members move with respect to. the stationarymembers.

Figure 4 shows another typical; display assembly made according to this invention.

Figure 5 is a side elevational View` of a display assembly of this invention showing a preferredk modification of the means for attaching a movable display object to the card or board member of the assembly.

Figure 6 is a side elevational View of a display assembly of thisinvention showingvanother modification of the attachment'means for securing a movable displayobject n2,884,726 lamented. May 5., 1959,

wt lc@ 2. to:y a card, or `board member of the display assembly of'thisf. invention.

Referring to the drawing.: in detail, a typical display'. assembly. of this` invention comprises a display card or boardllll, shown. iny Figure 1, supportedy substantially. vertically. byfawing-tYpQ oieasel member 12. Attached; to the display card 10: by: means of a string or cord 14g is a display object 16o, hereinshoWn inthe form. of a girl in a running position carrying aplurality of books 151:. Itisobserved that the display object,y 16` is a substant-iallyl atv member and is nreterablymade ofrigid'. paper'or' cardboard material. orfany other suitable nonfmagnetie material;

Attached to thebacle sideof the display. object A1,6is al, Permanent. magnet 1li. having;v al north. and, a; southy nele The permanent magnet 18 is preferably of the-ban type.v However, any otherfsuitable- Shape Or-typi-is Sat-.istacttetv-y rIhe north and. the south poles oftheperrnanent magnet 18 may. be disposed. vertically with; the` north or south;l pole in Atheuppsermost position, or the permanentv magnet,- 18..1nay be disposed with.. the north andthe southpolesl substantially horizontal,l orin any other position. Attached tothe permanenty magnet 18I is; a.- sponge robber cushion. 20 which is normally disposed against. the front,- side of ,the candor board. member 1.0,

Atv the rear side of thecard ori boardy member 1z0-s;v abracket member 24whieh insupported; within a pocket 26; The bracketmemberolfl is composed; on a non-mage netic material, Such. as. 211.1111111111111l 0r- 1jr-asser. the. like Rigidlv'` attached to the bracket, member lit-is. an, elettrf.v magnet 27 which is attached tolthebracket. 24 bymeans., of a magnetizable,coremembenzl` The core member 28 is disposed at the back o the card 10 and is, positioned at: the'A portion ofthe card- 10 which is adjacent the perf. manent magnetlSat thefront, side of the card 103,

Surrounding, themagnetizable core member 2,8 isA an electric coil. 30, to which areattached power supply wires,- 32, ydisposedvvithin a, flexible covering or conduit 3,4. Itis tofbe, understood, that the `electromagnet.27-fmay. be

supported. adjacent the rear side of' thecard or display. member; 10 by any, suitablemeans otherfthan the bracket.

member 2,4.,positioned inthe pocketl. However., it has. been found that in ease. of assembly thereare certaim advantages. in providing.i a pocket memberv which. is; adapted, to removably retain, ak bracketh such`- as. the.. bracket 24. a

The display. assembly is. disposed` substantially.A venti@` ine, current or intermittent current. Supply may Operate.. satisfactorily.y Such energizationof. the coil 30 results. in an alternating or. intermittent lmagnetic.linx whieh.,en.

Compasses the, permanent magnet 18l and affects the;

permanent magnet1.8so. that the. permanent magnet 1.8.2 is caused to flutter and jump irregularly. The suspensioniL of the display object is. such thatthe natural frequency of movement of the display, Objectis not similarto. they frequency ofthe flux created by the electromagnet. These,

'We have` an object freely suspendedr twhieh object is; car.

pable ofy a certain. natural, frequency of movernemt and the object is pushed or lpulledfata. rate diietent fromthe naturalrate of the object. Thus, the. movable display objectV 1 6,` to which. is. attached, the permanent .magl-rv net 18, is caused to utterirregularly in,Z itsJ position adp- .y

jacentV the display card 10. Thus, thedisplay objectv 16 is very. active during energizationy of the coil. 31),:

with an alternating@ pulsatingl or. intenmittent current.4

Asshovvn in'FignreS 1f and 3,k the.l display object-,16 has irregular movements both parallel to the card'l and normal to the card during energization of the coil 3:0. This movement results in causing the display object 16 to be very attractive and of interest to anyone who may observe the display assembly. In order to obtain the greatest amount of activity of the movable display object 16, the permanent magnet 18 may be positioned so that thepermanent magnet 18 is slightly out of line with the longitudinal axis of the core 28. However, it has been found that the permanent magnet 18 rjumps and flutters satisfactorily 'when disposed in any position adjacent the core 28 of the electromagnet 27.

The sponge rubber member which is attached to the permanent magnet 18 acts as a cushion between the magnet 18 and the card member 10 so that no appreciable noise results from the operation of the display object 16 as the display object 16v flutters and irregularly engages the card member 10. However, if the noise of the jumping and uttering of a display object is desired, as well as the appearance thereof, the cushion 20 may be omitted.

In Figure 4 is shown a movable display object 35 in the form of a ying insect. To the movable display object 35 at the rearward side thereof is provided a permanent magnet (not shown), such as the permanent magnet 18. The back side of a card or board member 38, to which the movable display object 35 is attached, is provided with an electromagnet (not shown), similar to the electromagnet 27 shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

In the display assembly, shown in Figure 4, a stationary object 40 is attached to the card or board member 38. Therefore, the display assembly, as shown in Figure 4, is provided with both a stationary and a movable object. 'Ihe card member 38 is also provided with any suitable type of lettering or indicia, as shown thereon at the upper portion thereof.

In Figure 5 is shown a side view of a modiiieation of a display assembly of this invention in which a card or board member 42 is provided with a hook member 44. The hook member 44 loosely supports a movable display object 46 which is provided with a permanent magnet 48 having a cushion member 50 attached thereto. Adjacent the card member 42 at the rearward side thereof is shown a magnetic core 52, similar to the magnetic core 28 of the preferred embodiment. The magnetic core 52 is supported by means of a bracket member 53. It is noted that the permanent magnet 48 is disposed slightly below the level of the core 52. As stated above, any display assembly made according to this invention may have the permanent magnet thereof disposed in any relative position adjacent the end of a magnetizable core member, as evidenced by the figures herein. On the card 42 is also rigidly supported a stationary display object 54.

` In Figure 6 is shown another modification in the means of attachment of a movable display object 56 to a card or board member 58. The movable display object 56 is attached to the card 58 by means of a spring member 60. Attached to the movable display object 56 is a permanent magnet 62 which is provided with a cushion member 64. Also shown at the rearward side of the card member 58 is a magnetizable core member 66, supported by a bracket 67.

A plurality of permanent magnet and electromagnet assemblies made according to this invention may be assembled upon a large display board to provide iluttering movement to a plurality of letters. Thus, the letters comprising a word or a sentence upon a display board may be caused to utter irregularly.

It is to be understood that the structure of this invention may be employed in other types of devices and apparatus. The movable elements of this invention may be employed in any device in which it is desired to have a movable member 'which jumps and flutters with respect to another member of the device.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device 4 has been described, it `will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, `which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A flutter display assembly comprising a card member, a substantially flat display object movably supported by the card member on one side thereof, a permanent magnet attached to the display object and disposed intermediate the display object and the card member, an electromagnet disposed adjacent the card member on the other side of the card member and adjacent the permanent magnet attached to the display object, the permanent magnet being within the eld of said electromagnet, and means for supplying alternating current energy to the electromagnet, the display object thus being caused to utter when the electromagnet is supplied with alternating current energy.

2. A ilutter display assembly comprising a support structure, a ldisplay object loosely supported by the support structure, an electromagnet supported by the support structure adjacent the display object, and a permanent magnet within the eld of said electromagnet and attached to the display object, the display object thus being caused to Hutter when the electromagnet is energized.

3. In a iutter display assembly comprising a thin support structure having a front surface and a rear surface, a display object movably supported by the support structure adjacent the front surface thereof, a permanent magnet attached to the display object and disposed intermediate the display object and the support structure, and an electromagnet provided with an alternating current energy supply attached to the support structure at the rear surface thereof, the permanent magnet being Within the field of the electromagnet, the alternating current energy supply to the electromagnet causing au alternating flux field which affects the permanent magnet by causing the permanent magnet to flutter and to jump irregularly in its flexible attachment to the support structure.

4. A flutter display `assembly comprising a substantially vertical support board member, a hook member attached to said board member, a display object loosely attached to said hook member and supported thereby, a permanent magnet attached to said display object intermediate the display object and the board member, a cushion member attached to the permanent magnet intermediate the permanent magnet and the board member, an electromagnet supported iadjacent the board member and the permanent magnet, the permanent magnet being within the field of the electromagnet, and means for energizing the electromagnet With an alternating current, the display object thus being caused to Hutter and to jump irregularly when the permanent magnet is affected by the alternating flux established by the electromagnet.

5. A utter display assembly comprising a support structure, an electromagnet carried by the support structure, a display object flexibly supported by the support structure adjacent the electromagnet, a permanent magnet attached to the display object within the eld of the electromagnet, and means for energizing the electromagnet with an electric current which is non-constant in value, the display object thus being caused to flutter and to move irregularly when `the electrom-agnet is energized.

6. In a display assembly comprising a card member, a display object, a exible spring member loosely attachin-g the :display object to one side of the card member, a permanent magnet attached to the display object and disposed intermediate the display object and the card member, an electromagnet disposed adjacent the card member on the other side of the card member and adjacent the permanent magnet attached to the display object, the permanent magnet being within the eld of the electromagnet, and means for supplying current which is non-constant in value to the electromagnet, the electromagnet thus establishing a flux which causes the permanent magnet to ilutter and to jump irregularly with respect to the card member.

7. A tlutter display assembly comprising a support member, a display member movably supported by the support member, an electromagnet supported by one of said members, and a permanent magnet Within the field of the electromagnet and attached to the other of said members, the display member thus being caused to utter and to jump irregularly.

8. A flutter display assembly comprising a support member, a display member movably attached to the support member, a permanent magnet attached to the display member intermediate the two members, and an electromagnet provided with means for energization from a source having a changing voltage, the electromagnet being supported by the support member adjacent the permanent magnet, the permanent magnet being Within the field of the electromagnet.

9. In a magnetic assembly having a flutter movement comprising `an electrically controlled magnet having means for energization by a source having a changing voltage and a permanent magnet, the permanent magnet being within the eld of the electrically controlled magnet, said 6 magnets being disposed in juxtaposed relation, said magnets being movably disposed one with respect to the other, the magnets thus moving one with respect to the other in a fluttering and irregular manner when the electrically controlled magnet is energized.

l0. In a display assembly, the combination including support structure, an electrically operated magnet having means for energization by a source having a changing voltage and carried by the support structure, a display member movably carried by the support structure, and a permanent magnet attached to the display member and Within the eld of the electrically operated magnet, the display member thus fluttering and moving irregularly when the electrically operated magnet is energized.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,395,982 Gee Nov. 1, 1921 2,116,638 Prins May 10, 1938 2,127,316 Thornton-Norris Aug. 16, 1938 2,186,744 Wagenhals Jan. 9, 1940 2,562,569 Niblick July 31, 1951 2,598,954 Wengel June 3, 1952 2,649,551 Yarrow Aug. 18, 1953 2,769,264 Niblick Nov. 6, 1956 

